Hi, I'm Maria.
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I offer an integrated/holistic approach to women like you struggling with the residual effects of body and emotional trauma so that you can live the life your wishing for.
Shame
Depression
Anxiety
Lacking Self Love
Intimacy issues
Low self-esteem
Work/Life balance
Are you afraid that you'll always feel anxious and ashamed of your past? Do you feel stuck and lonely while life continues to pass you by and what you're meant to do in this world keeps slipping away? Are you wishing and hoping for more but don't know how or what?
I get it.
Your fears, your anxiety, shame, loneliness and your depressing days can all be a thing of the past. I've been there and it sucks. And sometimes it all can make you feel like shit. This is why I do what I do.
I’ll guide you to let go of the trauma so that you can stop only existing and start living!
I think you can tell by now that I tend to swear and it's one of the things I'm working on.
Not really :)
You know, I am who I am. I'm honest, real and raw. And feeling this good came with some internal work.
And you can do the work too.
When I finally decided to start seeing a therapist, I was looking for a woman of color who would actually make a difference in my life. I wanted to let go of family secrets, shame and the heavy energy I woke up to everyday and someone that understood my culture and spiritual practices. That was important to me. But I didn't.
I went to five therapists. They aren't many bilingual, bi-cultural therapists where I live. But I wanted the help, I needed it. My mother had died and I needed to process that sadness. Some therapists I saw for weeks and some for months. Unfortunately, the last day I walked out of their offices, I felt the same way I felt the first day I walked in. Nothing. Nothing had changed in my life.
That will not happen to you.
When you come in for your first session, I promise you, you will feel different. You’ll feel like you’re on the path of getting yourself back.
I know you're scared, I was too.
Talking about being afraid to start, when I first began studying to be a marriage and family therapist, not only did I have to do therapy with my classmates, I had to do therapy in front of a supervisor in order to become certified in Gestalt Therapy.
I didn't want to open my closet in front of the whole class... I was scared of being judged and afraid of what people would think of me. Little did I know, we were all going through the same thing! We were all scared shit-less! That shit was HARD.
That was scary as all heck. And to help me cope with the stress of school, life, work and the death of my mother, I began seeing a therapist. She was not a woman of color but she was referred to me. Finally, after years of searching.
With her help, I was able to be vulnerable enough to open my packed closet, go through it and sort it allllll out. I have to tell you, that was some heavy shit. I'm glad I did though because now I'm living free of all the old patterns. One thing I do wish, I wish I had found a good therapist a lot sooner.
Yes it was hard, but I wasn't about to become a therapist, expect you to trust me and put yourself through the ringer when I hadn’t done it myself.
To trust a complete stranger is difficult, I feel you.
Trust me when I tell you, I will not ask you to do something that I haven't done myself. I took the risk of trusting someone I didn't know, a total stranger. And to add to the scary mix, she didn't understand my culture at all, but she was open to learn and she was referred to me by someone I trusted. I took a risk and I'm glad I did.
Years after therapy, I continued to feel my intuition telling me ‘there's more out there to discover’.
That's when I began to practice yoga, along with my shamanistic roots and BINGO! The combination of continued self exploration, yoga and my spiritual practices was the perfect combination I was intuitively needing. This is why I strongly encourage you to consider including yoga or some sort of spiritual practice that is true to you to your therapeutic journey. I followed my own way to self-love and self-compassion, and you’ll follow yours. I'll teach you how.
Your way of self-discovery is yours and different than everyone else.
WARNING: I gotta tell you, if you’re looking for someone to agree with you and tell you what you want to hear and tell you how right you are, and hang out with you… keep looking for another therapist! That's so not the way I work.
I work best with women and couples who are so sick of being depressed, feeling anxious all day, and swirling in the everyday shit! Women and couples who really want to do the work and are ready to do whatever it takes to totally change their lives. Women and couples who want to love freely without the triggers of neglect and abandonment.
I'll help you help yourself. I'm not here to enable you, bullshit you or let you bullshit yourself. I'll support you and give you the space to cry, scream and fight your way out of the mud. We'll laugh, talk about what's necessary and the real nitty gritty. I'll guide you to where YOU want to go.
I'll help you come back to who you're meant to be, gently and consistently.
Self love and self compassion is necessary to thrive in this world.
Wow! if you've read this far, thank you so much. I hope this is just the beginning of our relationship. I'd love to learn more about you.
When do you want to start living?
If not now, when?
In case you're wondering...
I love what I do and I’m good at it too.
In gratitude,
Maria